Creel board cleaner



Aug. 13, 1940. J. P. GAREY 2,211,265

CREEL BOARD CLEANER Filed May 17, 1939 2 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR. /U/wsz Joh/b 45.9 6MM/M' BY ATTORNEY.

Filed May 17, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q @/2 n noz.: EHVV, www MMHWJWMUH If if wfwrwl i l' [Il JNVENTOR.

Patented Aug. 13, 1940 UNITE@ STATES casco Bomen CLEANER John P. Garey,

Elmira. Heights, N. Y., assigner,

by mesne assignments, to Bendix Aviation Cor- Delaware poration, South Bend, Ind., a corporation of Application May 17, 1939, .Serial No. 274,203

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to creel board cleaners for winding and spinning frames and more particularly to a device for picking up and collecting lint, fuzz and dirt so as to prevent the attachment thereof to the yarn.

The problem of maintaining yarn clean and free from slubs or adherent particles, strands or nuff has received much attention and many efforts have been made to provide an eflicient and economical solution thereof. Among other devices, elaborate blowing systems have been resorted to in order to prevent the accumulation of such matter on the creel boards. The lint and fuzz thus blown about, however, produces a distinct re hazard in conjunction with electrical equipment, and a certain proportion 'thereof settles on the yarn so that yarn cleaners and slub catchers must be relied on to remove the adherent masses from the yarn as it is being wound. Moreover, blowers which are powerful enough to remove the material from the creel boards are likely to interfere with the rotation of the bobbins and cause rovings to snarl and break.

When bobbin holders of the pendulous type are employed in the spinning frames, it is possible to use a mechanical cleaner for the creel boards such as disclosed in the patent to Ferguson No. 1,883,358 which has the advantage of not disseminating theremoved material throughout the winding room. Even with this type of cleaner, however, the material is to a large extent merely displaced and may later find its way to locations where it interferes with the spinning operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method of collecting and disposing of lint, fuzz and other loose material deposited on vthe creel boards of spinning frames.

It is another object to provide a novel creel board cleaner which is efficient and reliable in operation while being simple and economical in construction.

It is another object to provide such a device which is arranged to pick up and collect the detrital material in a form which facilitates its removal and disposal.

It is a further object to provide such a de- Vice which does not interfere in any way with the winding or spinning operation.

It is another object to provide such a device which has only slow-moving parts and is purely mechanical in action so that it introduces no nre hazards.

It is another object to provide such a device, the operating elements of which are substantial- -ly enclosed so as to be protected from mechanical injury, and to exclude material which might cause sticking or jamming thereof.

It is another object to provide such a device which is particularly adapted for spinning frames using the pendulous type of bobbin holders, and which is arranged to maintain substantially the entire surface of the creel boards clean and free from lint and fly.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of. a spinning frame incorporating a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the section being taken substantially on the line I-l of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View of a portion of such a spinning frame taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the driving mechanism for the creel board cleaners;

.2 Fig. 3 is an enlargedv detail of a creel board cleaner and its operating mechanism, partly broken away for the sake of clarity; and

Fig. 4 is a section through the operating mechanism and a portion of the yarn cleaner taken substantially on the line ll-ll of Fig. 3.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings there is illustrated a spinning frame of conventional type comprising a table I on which is mounted a lower creel board 2. An intermediate creel board 3 is supported above the lower creel board 2 by means of suitable pedestals 4, and an upper creel board 5 is similarly supported above the intermediate creel board by means of pedestals 6. The intermediate and upper creel boardsl are preferably provided with brackets l and 8 respectively which are connected by vertical tie rods or standards e and Il which are rigidly mounted in the top of the table I as indicated at I2 and i3 in order to form a rigid frame for the creel boards.

Pendulous bobbin supports Hl and i5 are mounted in the intermediate and upper creel boards, and bobbins i6 and il are rotatably mounted thereon whereby the threads or rovings on the bobbins may be drawn through the rolls indicated generally by numeral I8 and wound on bobbins I9.

It will be understood that the structure so far described is conventional in character so that more detailed description thereof is believed unnecessary.

According to the present invention, means are provided for picking up any foreign material which becomes deposited on the creel boards and retaining such collected material for removal and disposal by an operator. As here shown, this means comprises cylindrical rollers 2| covered with a felt-like or nappy material having an afnity for lint, dust and the like. The cylinders 2| are arranged to be rolled slowly over the surface of the creel boards whereby the felt-like coverings of the cylinders pick up any loose material on the creel boards and cause it to wind around the cylinders and remain attached thereto.

Means for guiding and actuating the cleaners is provided in the form of fork members 22 (Figs. 3 and 4) slidably mounted in slots 23 in the creel boards. Means for reciprocating the forks 22 from end to end of the creel boards are provided in the form of shafts 24 journalled in slots 23 and provided with two threads of opposite hand in which followers 25 slidably engage. The followers 25 have cylindrical lugs 26 pivotally engaging in the bodies of the fork members 22 whereby the longitudinal motion of the followers 25 caused by rotation of the threaded shafts is transmitted to the forks 22.

Forks 22 are provided with tines 21 arranged to engage in circumferential grooves 28 in the cylinders 2| to thereby form a guiding and actuating connection for the cylinders.

In order to exclude foreign matter from the grooves 23 in the creel boards, the grooves are preferably closed by means of sheet metal guide and sealing members 29 which are so formed as to leave merely small slits through which the forks 22 project, which slits open into the bottom of the grooves with baffles 3| interposed to shield the threaded shafts from any material which might enter the slits.

The threaded shafts 24 are preferably rotated at slow speed from the driving mechanism of the spinning frame in `any convenient manner. As here illustrated, belt wheels 32 are mounted on said shafts, and a belt drive 33 arranged to any conventional type of power take-off from the driving mechanism as indicated at 34 (Fig. 2).

The threads of the shafts 24 are joined adjacent the ends of said shafts as indicated at 35 in Fig. 3 whereby when the followers 25 reach the ends of the threads, they tLun back and traverse the .thread of opposite hand. The followers 25, forks 22 and cleaners 2| are thus caused to reciprocate slowly from end to end of the creel boards.

In order that substantially the entire surface of the creel boards may be operated on by the cleaners 2|, the bodies of the cleaners are made of such length -as to just clear the central pedestals 4, and the coverings of the cleaners are extended and preferably slitted as shown at 36 to form flexible fingers which extend to the centers of the creel boards. As the cleaners roll along the creel boards, the fingers 36 bend to pass by the pedestals 4, but immediately extend and contact the creel boards between the pedestals. It has been found in practice that these flexible tongues or fingers 36 have a peculiar' grasping or retrieving action on particles encountered thereby whereby the material is caused to ball up and lodge within the pocket formed by these fingers, and is carried therein until removed by the operator.

In the operation of the invention, when the spinning frame is started, the screw shafts 24 are constantly rotated at low speed through the power take-off 34 and the belt drives therefrom. 'Ihe forks 22 are thus caused to reciprocate slowly from end to end of the creel boards by virtue of the followers 25 which traverse the threads in the screw shafts.

Cleaners 2| are placed on the creel boards with the grooves 28 of the cleaners receiving the tines 2l of the forks 22 which serve to actuate and guide the cleaners whereby the cleaners are rolled over the surfaces of the creel boards. Since the cleaners are made symmetrically, they may be placed on the creel boards without attention to orientation and serve to pick up and collect any foreign material on the creel boards by virtue of the felt-like coating or covering of the cylinders.

At suitable intervals, the operator picks up the cleaners and rubs the accumulated lint, etc. from the cleaners by sliding the cleaners through his hand endwise. The material is thus readily dislodged as an adherent mass and is therefore easily disposed of in any suitable manner. The accumulated material within the ends of the cleaners as picked up by the fingers 36 is also removed by the operator at the same time in the form of a loose ball of material and disposed of.

It will be seen that there is here provided a cleaning device which collects and holds the foreign material in a convenient manner for ultimate disposal. The cleaners are entirely automatic in action and will continue to operate for an indefinite period without attention, the limiting factor being the enlargement of the diameter of the cleaners by accumulated material to such an extent as to extend into proximity to the lower ends of the bobbins I6, which, of course, would occur only after a long period of unattended use.

Although the cleaning devices are here illustrated as applied only to the lower and intermediate creel boards, it will be appreciated that they may be readily applied in the same manner to the upper creel board if so desired. Since, however, the detrital material settles mostly on the creel boards below the bobbins, and the top creel board is commonly used for the storage of idle bobbins, it would usually not be considered necessary or desirable to install cleaners thereon.

Although but one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be understood that other embodiments are possible and various changes may be made in the design and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A cleaner for creel boards of spinning frames and the like including a cylindrical collecting member having a covering of felt-like material, the covering extending beyond the ends of the cylindrical member to form pockets for the reception of collected material.

2. A cleaner for creel boards of spinning frames and the like including a cylindrical collecting member having a covering of felt-like material, the covering extending beyond the ends of the cylindrical member and slit longitudinally at its ends to form fingers adapted to pick up and retain detrital material coming in contact therel with.

3. In combination with a spinning frame having a creel board, means for collecting the loose material deposited on the creel board including a cylinder covered with felt-like material and having a circumferential groove, a fork member having tines adapted to enter loosely in said groove, and means for reciprocating said fork from end to end of the creel board.

4. In combination with a spinning frame hav- CII ing a Creel board and upright supporting frame members rising from the Creel board, Cleaning means for the Creel board including a cylindrical member having a felt-like covering arranged to roll on the Creel board, the Covering having exible portions extending beyond the ends of the Cylindrical member to Clean the portions of the Creel board in alignment with the frame members.

5. In combination with a spinning frame having a Creel board and a line of upright supporting frame members rising from the Creel board, cleaning means for the Creel board including a cylindriCal member having a felt-like Covering arranged to roll on the Creel board, and means operated from the driving mechanism of the spinning frame to roll the cylinder along a path parallel to the line of frame members, the Covering having flexible fingers extending beyond the ends of the Cylindrical member to pick up foreign material on the portions of the Creel board in alignment with the frame members.

6. In a spinning frame, a Creel board, means for pendulously mounting a plurality of bobbins above the Creel board, a pair of Cylindrical lint collectors with felt-like Coverings having a Combined length substantially equal to the Width of the Creel bo-ard, and means actuated from the drive mechanism of the spinning frame for rolling said collectors from end to end of the Creel board to keep the entire surface of the Creel board free from lint and fly.

'7. In a spinning frame, a Creel board, means for pendulously mounting a plurality of bobbins above the Creel board, a pair of cylindrical lint collectors with felt-like coverings having a Combined length substantially equal to the Width of the Creel board, said Colelctors having peripheral grooves, guideways on the Creel board, and fork members reciprocable in the guideways and engageable in said grooves to roll the Collectors along the guideways to thereby keep the entire surface of the Creel board free from lint and fly.

8. In a spinning frame, a Creel board, means for pendulously mounting a plurality of bobbins above the Creel board, a plurality of rolling lint collectors, the combined length of which is substantially equal to the Width of the Creel board, and means for rolling said lint Collectors from end to end of the Creel board along parallel paths beneath the bobbins to Collect the lint and fly therefrom and maintain the Creel board Clean.

J OHN P. GAREY. 

